Mental illness in the homeless: How far can society help those in need?

Imagine living in a world where every decision you make is dictatedby society and its members. Imagine being completely reliant on the goodwill of some stranger who decides what is in your best interests, whether you agree or not. Imagine losing all sense of self worth while being subjected to extreme poverty and experiencing anger, depression and pain on a daily basis.

This is what life looks like for the average homeless person. This is the fate that can befall someone who loses everyone he or she has ever loved and cared for. This is what happens when the only possessions an individual has to their name is what they carry with them. This is the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances, whereby someone is left to fend for themselves on the streets, with hope becoming more of an abstract concept as each day passes by…

In addition, these matters aren’t helped by common misconceptions that are too often circulated about the homeless. One of the most predominant of these is that they are more interested in taking drugs or other paraphernalia than they are in acquiring basic necessities.

This issue is further complicated by the fact that those who choose to take drugs often have very little choice after they have taken their first hit. It is sadly not uncommon for a homeless person to become become extremely ill if they suddenly stop taking specific substances: vomiting, diarrhoea and excruciating muscle spasms are just some of what they would endure in the short term. In the long term, there is no guaranteed safe space or form of systematic mental health support to help them recover from their addictions and/or physical dependency on such drugs. This in turn fails to create an incentive for these people to embrace the possibility of changing their ways, and understandably so. Instead, these people are far more likely to be concerned about having enough provisions to see the next sunrise than they will be about receiving adequate mental health support!

There is also the mistaken belief that those who beg on the streets do so because either it is some kind of lifestyle choice or an attempt at making an easy living out of scamming those altruistic enough who stop by to help them. Not only is the prospect of begging for money an abhorrent one to most homeless people, many completely refuse to participate in such an activity at all! Indeed, according to various studies, begging typically emerges in the “middle-late stages” of homelessness once people have already exhausted all other options, and so it would arguably be something that is done as a last resort and not as a quick scheme to make a bit of cash at the expense of one’s own dignity and self-respect.

A first-hand account of homelessness recorded in Tamsen Courtenay’s Four Feet Under, a collection of 30 stories of homeless people in their own words.

Overall, what can be deduced from this information is that the suffering and sense of shame bought on by being separated from one’s home and livelihood is only the beginning of a homeless person’s mental health problems. Those unfortunate enough to be stuck in these kinds of situations endure mental health issues beyond the comprehension of the rest of society – and even worse, they are unlikely to be able to access the treatment they need to survive.

With this line of thinking in mind, any organization designed to help the homeless arguably has a moral duty to extend meaningful support to those on every rung of the sociological ladder regardless of who they are or where they come from.

Should we be giving money to the homeless?

There seems to a unanimous agreement that more needs to be done to help the homeless – a more contentious line of thought seems to be exactly how we should be helping them, and whether it is possible that some forms of aid we could be doing more harm than good in the long term!

Overall, the decision of whether to give out money or essential items such as food or water to the homeless is a complex one. In simple terms, it is an issue that boils down to the idea of how far you believe in and support someone’s freedom of choice to decide their own destiny – whatever the cost. After all, can we really claim to be a truly egalitarian society ( or a society that is as equalitarian in nature as is humanely possible!) by casually dismissing this universal right?

Mark Johnson, founder of User Voice, a charity led and staffed by former homeless addicts

As much as we attempt to better ourselves, it is equally as important to remember that it is not our place to play ‘God’ with peoples lives, regardless of how benevolent we believe our intent to be. On the surface, the idea of ensuring that a homeless person can be afforded with the basic human decency of having something to eat and drink is a morally justifiable one and with good reason. Yet if your motivation behind such an act is to ensure that one that the person in question is unable to attain substances that might do them harm, then is it for you to decide? Or is it for the human being in front of you who has their own motivations, thoughts and feelings?

A Final Word

We may not be able to solve the issue of homelessness with a click of our fingers, but each one of us can take affirmative action in order to play our part. If you believe giving money to be the best solution, then give what you can. Keep in mind that not all homeless people choose to beg because they want to – often they simply need somewhere to stay for the night or really do just want a bottle of water or a sandwich to keep them going.

Alternatively if you believe that it is your moral duty to ensure their basic needs for survival are met, then aside from food and water, consider handing out items such as sleeping bags and painkillers, both of which can help make their lives a little bit easier. In the case of homeless women, greater provision of sanitary products would also be ideal in improving their physical and mental well-being.

To summarise, the more of us who champion the cause of the homeless the more likely they will be afforded with the basic rights, dignity and freedom that they deserve. A more egalitarian outcome is possible, but it will involve the participation of every individual in society to give the poorer among us a more favourable outcome. In light of this article this is especially important in regards to encouraging them to take their physical and mental health issues as seriously as we do our own.

I realise that much of the issues discussed above are likely to provoke a range of opinions from people, and I am very interested in hearing your view on the matter. Does any part of this article resonate with your own beliefs regarding the importance of helping those who often cannot help themselves? Or perhaps you believe an alternative approach would be more beneficial?

2 thoughts on “Mental illness in the homeless: How far can society help those in need?”

If your life was literally a living hell and someone offered you a pill and said “here take this, tonight you won’t be cold, won’t be hungry, scared or ashamed, take this pill and for just a few hours everything will be okay…”

You would take it! I would take it!

(Not all) homeless people take drugs? Well duh! What else are you going to do when you’re trapped in a never-ending nightmare with nowhere, no one to turn to?!

If I was homeless long-term, I would be on anything I could get my hands on just to numb the pain of being alive and I think, many people who look down their noses at these people would be too.

I have given food and drinks to homeless people, I have also given cigarettes and money and if they buy vodka with that money well that’s their choice, I didn’t give it with conditions attached, I also understand why they would choose vodka over a soggy sandwich which isn’t going to sustain them longer than a few hours anyway.

psychiatric institutions were (rightfully in most cases) closed down so people could receive care in their own communities but now community care is being cut back on, people with severe mental health issues have no safety net at all. For long-term solutions, that’s where the intervention needs to be.

I’m going to stop here, sorry for the long comment, I could rant about this for hours.

Hey there. Just to clarify I completely agree with you that if I were homeless I would absolutely do anything I could to numb the pain! It must be a terrible existence to endure!

Unfortunately it seems like a lot people do have this idea that doing drugs is a terrible thing to do. This is in spite the fact that the majority of these same people are happy to or even feel a need to get tipsy/drunk on a weekly basis on their drug of choice (alcohol). Alas that’s a whole other issue entirely so I won’t go further into this societal hypocrisy for fear of delving into a rant myself!

Good on you for giving money to the homeless with no conditions attached – honestly I’m a big advocate for the freedom of the individual in general so I naturally lean towards giving money over other stuff myself.

Good point about the psychiatric institutions too! I hope it didn’t come across as if I were endorsing them (I’ve read around enough to know how bad they were back in the day) – I just found it to be an interesting notion. 🙂

No need to apologise at all! It’s important to discuss these kind of issues and you made several valid points!